The baryte-bearing beryl-phosphate pegmatite Plössberg—A missing link between pegmatitic and vein-type barium mineralization in NE Bavaria, Germany

Abstract

Pegmatites and aplites enriched in P, Be, Nb, Ta and Li occur in the high-temperature metamorphic lithological units of the NE Bavarian Basement, SE Germany. They are accompanied by Ba mineralization, in vein-type deposits in the basement as well as in its foreland. Locally, Ba minerals are encountered in the late Variscan pegmatites and aplites too. The shallow discordant stock-like pegmatites (Hagendorf-type) are barren as to Ba, but in the tabular, concordant aplites and pegmatites Ba was concentrated (Plössberg-type). These concordant pegmatites and aplites are supposed to be the root zone of the intrusive pegmatites. In the rare case of low sulfur fugacity, Ba forms Ba–Zr–K–Sc phosphates/silicates in the pegmatites (transition of magmatic into the hydrothermal stages I/II). Under high sulfur fugacity, Ba is accommodated within the same stages in the structure of baryte. Barium is not accommodated in the lattice of phosphates during or in the immediate aftermaths of the emplacement of these Be–P–Nb–Ta pegmatites (stage III). This element shows up again in APS minerals during supergene alteration under acidic conditions (stage IV). Considering the host rocks of baryte mineralization, the Sr contents of baryte increased from the early Paleozoic to the Late Triassic. The Sr contents of baryte are a function of the depth below ground in the vein-type deposits and in the shear-zones bounding the tabular concordant pegmatites. Beryl is not only a marker mineral for the shear-zone-hosted pegmatites but can also be used as a tool for the geodynamic positioning of these pegmatites using its oxygen isotopes. A subdivision of the pegmatites into intrusive and shear-zone hosted may be achieved by its REE and minor elements.